Chapter 3: Yaoxing Academy 3 Part 1

It was September, already autumn, but the afternoon sun still blazed fiercely.

The bus stop marked “Yaoxing Academy Station” stood empty at that moment, with only a deep blue luxury car parked nearby.

Though the stop was named “Yaoxing Academy Station,” it was quite a distance from the school. It had always been more of a decorative fixture until Lu Zhou enrolled, when it finally served its purpose.

Xun Ji lifted his hand idly to check his watch.

Lu Zhou sure took his sweet time walking.

The moment the System issued the task, he had considered ignoring it. But—

【If points go negative, the Host will be erased.】

Fine.

Wasn’t it just robbing a high schooler’s money? Wasn’t it just destroying the keepsake of his recently deceased mother? Even an ordinary good person might…

What good person would do something like this?!

Xun Ji felt utterly hopeless, and to top it off, that nagging System stayed silent, offering no input. It was like two accomplices who had planned to do something bad together, only for one to bail at the last second, leaving the other to bear double the pressure.

“Young Master, he’s here,” the driver called out to remind him.

A thin, lanky figure slowly entered the station—it was Lu Zhou.

Xun Ji could have rushed to the principal’s office right after receiving the task to stop the school from issuing the Scholarship to Lu Zhou.

But the principal’s office was too far away, and he was too lazy to run.

So he had no choice but to wait at the station to intercept Lu Zhou. Besides, the System hadn’t specified exactly how to “prevent” Lu Zhou from obtaining the Scholarship.

Xun Ji stepped out of the car, squinting against the sunlight. His golden hair, however, betrayed him, eagerly soaking up the rays and gleaming dazzlingly.

Lu Zhou recoiled half a step into the shadow of the station sign, as if stung by the light, and asked warily, “Why are you here?”

The injuries on his face had improved somewhat, but his complexion was terrible, heavy dark circles making his face even paler. He seemed to have acquired new wounds, and he walked with a limp.

Xun Ji struck a School Bully pose, striding forward with long legs to trap Lu Zhou between the station sign and himself.

“Junior Lu, if your memory’s fuzzy, I can help jog it,” he drawled. “That day in the warehouse, you chose to be my dog yourself. So how come now that you’ve seen your Master, you can’t even greet him?”

A flash of ferocity erupted in Lu Zhou’s eyes, but it subsided when he touched the box on his hand emblazoned with the school emblem.

“Young Master Xun,” he called out softly.

【Ding! Daily Task completed: Humiliate the Protagonist. Reward: 10 Points.】

The Protagonist was still young; just calling him Young Master Xun was too much for him.

Xun Ji sighed inwardly while flashing an evil grin on the surface. “Good Little Dog, what’s that nice thing you’re holding? Let me see.”

Lu Zhou gripped the box tightly and tried to sound calm. “Just a trinket, nothing Young Master Xun would care about.”

Xun Ji: “What if I insist on seeing it?”

Lu Zhou fell silent for a moment, then suddenly opened the box emblazoned with the school emblem and tilted his head up to look at Xun Ji.

“If Young Master Xun wants to see it, then see it.”

Inside was a Yaoxing Bank Savings Card specially designed for the Scholarship. Like Yaoxing Academy, Yaoxing Bank was also under the Xun Conglomerate.

“This is the Scholarship awarded by the school. I need it to buy a burial plot for my mother,” Lu Zhou said flatly. “Thank you for sending the driver to take me to the hospital that day, Young Master Xun. If you want some fun, once I’ve handled my mother’s funeral, I’ll play with you to your heart’s content.”

Lu Zhou was showing weakness.

In the warehouse, he had fought with his fists for a chance at survival; now, he laid bare his wounds to evoke sympathy. Different methods, same powerlessness.

Xun Ji sighed inwardly. Unfortunately, Lu Zhou was destined for disappointment.

A bus approached slowly in the distance. Xun Ji held out his hand. “Leave the item and get lost.”

Lu Zhou’s expression changed. He knew Xun Ji wouldn’t care about this pittance of money, which was why he had revealed it outright. Perhaps Xun Ji’s actions that day had given him the illusion of hope—that this infamous Little Young Master might let him go out of sympathy.

But he was wrong.

Why? Why even rob the money for his mother’s burial? Why wouldn’t they just leave him alone?

Blood welled up faintly in Lu Zhou’s eyes again, his grip on the box tightening.

The Little Dog was about to bite. Xun Ji inwardly cursed— he didn’t want to fight a high schooler.

As they stood in deadlock, a “hiss—” sounded—the bus had arrived.

The doors opened, and a figure dashed off, shouting anxiously before even steadying himself:

“Little Zhou, I was just heading to school to find you! Did you get the Scholarship?”

Xun Ji felt the person in front of him stiffen for an instant before turning his head and calling softly to the newcomer, “Dad.”

The middle-aged man wore a dingy sweat-soaked shirt, dark patches under his arms and on his back emitting a sour stench. He raked a hand through his thinning hair, flinging sweat droplets, his eyes fixed greedily on the box in Lu Zhou’s hand.

“That’s a Yaoxing Bank card?” the man exclaimed joyfully. “Good son, Dad knew you could get it!”

He reached out to snatch the box, but Lu Zhou snapped it shut with a “pa” and hid it behind his back.

“Dad, this is for Mom’s burial plot. You can’t take it,” Lu Zhou said coldly, a faint plea threading his voice.

The man’s hand froze, his face twisting in a grimace between tears and laughter. “Little Zhou, you saw it that day—the debt collectors came right to our door. If we don’t pay up, they’ll beat us all to death!”

“This money isn’t enough to cover your gambling debts,” Lu Zhou tried to reason. “The funeral home’s been urging us; we have to cremate and bury her right away…”

“What do you know?!” the man erupted violently, lunging at Lu Zhou.

“This is our last hope! If I can win it back, everything will be fine… everything will be fine!”

The man’s lips trembled as he repeated the phrase, pinning his own son and reaching for the box behind him.

Xun Ji quickly backed away several steps to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

“Hey, kid, are you getting on or not?”

The bus driver apparently recognized Lu Zhou and, after waiting ages with no sign of him boarding, shouted impatiently.